Technical Field
Embodiments described herein are related to the field of voltage regulation for integrated circuits, and more particularly to the measurement of voltage regulator current.
Description of the Related Art
Computing systems may include multiple integrated circuits, each of which may include different circuits, such as, a radio frequency transceiver, for example. Such integrated circuits may employ different power supply voltage levels to perform their respective functions. Computing systems may employ one or more voltage regulator units to generate the needed power supply voltage levels.
Each voltage regulator unit may employ a combination of active and passive circuit elements to generate a desired voltage level from a reference voltage level. In some computing systems, such as, cellular telephones or table computers, a rechargeable battery may provide the reference voltage. In other computing system, the reference voltage level may be generated from an alternating current (AC) line voltage level.
Some computing systems may include a system-on-a-chip (SoC) which may integrate different functional units into a single integrated circuit. Each functional unit may employ a different power supply voltage level. In such cases, a Power Management Unit (PMU) may be used in conjunction with multiple voltage regulator units to generate the desired power supply voltage levels for the SoC, as well as, adjust the power supply voltage levels dependent upon performance or thermal characteristics of the computing system.